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Tuesday, December 8, 2015

The British Home Championship-Part Three

The
1982 British Home Championship

The
1982 edition of the British Home Championship would go on to serve as
preparation for the 1982 World Cup in Spain. Three out of the Four Home Nations
had qualified for the main event with Wales being the only absentee.

The
first match of the 1982 Home Championship was played on February 23rd,
1982; England hosted Northern Ireland at Wembley.

England
Manager Ron Greenwood used this match for tactical experimentation.

England
played in a 1-4-3-2-1 formation. Ray Wilkins was moved from the midfield and
was deployed as a sweeper behind the two stoppers: Watson and the debutant
Foster.

Wilkins’
absence in the midfield limited Hoddle’s influence, as he was unable to launch
attacks due to the man-to-man marking of the Irish.

The
third match in the series took place on the very next day, April 28th,
1982, when Northern Ireland hosted Scotland at Windsor Park.

For
Northern Ireland, James Platt started in goal in place of Pat Jennings.

Scotland
were missing Graeme Souness and George Wood started in goal in place of Alan
Rough. In an even match John Wark scored for Scotland in the first half, with Sammy McIlroy
replying for the Northern Irish in the second half.

On
May 24th, 1982, Scotland hosted Wales at Glasgow. The Scottish near
full strength scored the winner in the 7th minute. Alan Brazil sent
Asa Hatrford through to score.

Three
days later, on May 27th, Wales took on Northern Ireland at Wrexham.
Wales easily defeated Northern Ireland by a heavy score of 3-0, with Brian
Flynn involved in all three goals. Wales took the lead in the 18th
minute, Brian Flynn sent Alan Curtis through who scored from close range.

In
the 64th minute, Brian Flynn took a free kick that Ian Rush headed
in. This was Rush’s first ever-International goal.

In
the 75th minute, Brian Flynn took a corner that eventually reached
Northern Ireland’s Sammy Illroy. He inadvertently passed it across and Wales’
Peter Nicholas immediately took a long distance shot past the goalkeeper.

The
final match of the Championship took place two days later on May 29th
at Glasgow, with Scotland hosting England for the 100th Official
matchup between the old rivals. Former stars George Young and Tom Finney led
out the teams. The English were in the middle of a long winning streak and were
much more confident. The Thompson/Butcher central defensive partnership was
once again excellent. The English scored the winning goal in the 13th
minute.

Trevor
Brooking took a corner from the right, Bryan Robson headed it across, Butcher
headed it as well and the ball hit the crossbar. Paul Mariner headed in the
rebound. Scotland improved after halftime, but England was once again stronger
towards the end.

This
was England Manager Ron Greenwood’s final Home Championship, as well as Keegan
and Brooking.

England
won the 1982 edition of the Championship with maximum points with Scotland
coming in second. Northern Ireland’s form left a lot to be desired but they
would improve in time for the World Cup.

Francis
Tierney Gray (Leeds United Association Football Club / England)

Midfielders
/ Forwards:

John
Wark (Ipswich Town Football Club / England)

David
Alexander Provan (The Celtic Football Club-Glasgow)

Alan
Bernard Brazil (Ipswich Town Football Club / England)

David
Narey (Dundee United Football Club)

Kenneth
Mathieson Dalglish (Liverpool Football Club / England)

Richard
‘Asa’ Hartford (Manchester City Football Club / England)

John
Neilson Robertson (Nottingham Forest Football Club / England)

Paul
Whitehead Sturrock (Dundee United Football Club)

Graeme
James Souness (Liverpool Football Club
/ England)

Joseph
Jordan (Associazione Calcio Milan /
Italy)

Thomas
Burns (The Celtic Football Club-Glasgow)

Coach:
John ‘Jock’ Stein

Northern
Ireland:

Players
who took part in the matches:

Goalkeepers:

Patrick
Anthony Jennings (Arsenal Football Club-London / England)

James
Archibald Platt (Middlesbrough Football Club / England)

Defenders:

James
Michael Nicholl (Manchester United Football Club / England)

Samuel
Nelson (Brighton Hove and Albion Football Club / England)

Malachy
Martin Donaghy (Luton Town Football Club / England)

Christopher
John Nicholl (Southampton Football Club / England)

John
McClelland (Rangers Football Club-Glasgow / Scotland)

Midfielders
/ Forwards:

John
Patrick O'Neill (Leicester City Football Club / England)

Noel
Brotherston (Blackburn Rovers Football Club / England)

George
‘Terence’ Cochrane (Middlesbrough Football Club / England)

Martin
Hugh Michael O'Neill (Norwich City
Football Club / England)

David
McCreery (Tulsa Roughnecks / USA)

Patrick
Joseph ‘Felix’ Healy (Coleraine Football Club)

James
Cleary (Glentoran Football Club-Belfast)

Robert
McFaul Campbell (Bradford City Football Club / England)

Gerard
Joseph Armstrong (Watford Football Club
/ England)

Samuel
Baxter McIlroy (Stoke City Football Club / England)

William
Robert Hamilton (Burnley Football Club / England)

Coach:
William Laurence Bingham

Wales:

Players
who took part in the matches:

Goalkeepers:

William
David ‘Dai’ Davies (Swansea City Football Club
/ Wales, registered in English League)

Neville
Southall (Everton
Football Club-Liverpool / England)

Defenders:
Christopher Marustik (Swansea City Football Club / Wales, registered in English League)
Kevin Ratcliffe (Everton
Football Club-Liverpool / England)
Nigel Stevenson (Swansea City Football Club / Wales, registered in English League)
Joseph Patrick Jones (Wrexham Football Club / Wales, registered in English League)

Midfielders
/ Forwards:

Peter
Nicholas (Arsenal Football
Club-London / England)
Alan Thomas Curtis (Swansea City Football Club / Wales, registered in English League)
Brian Flynn (Leeds United Association Football Club / England)

Carl
Stephen Harris (Leeds United Association Football Club / England)

Ian
James Rush (Liverpool Football Club / England)
Michael Reginald ‘Mickey’ Thomas (Brighton Hove and Albion Football Club / England)

Leighton
James (Swansea City Football Club / Wales, registered in English League)
Robert Mark James (Swansea City Football Club / Wales, registered in English League)

William Byron Stevenson (Birmingham City Football Club / England)

Ian
Patrick Walsh (Swansea City Football Club / Wales, registered in English League)